London, England - The Arts Club

In London, the coolest places to hang out are members only clubs. Forget the suburban country club of your youth, these clubs are in the heart of the city, have exquisitely designed interior spaces, and your fellow members are making headlines every week. Last evening I had dinner at my favorite club in London, The Arts Club.

The Arts Club is a London private members club founded in 1863 by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton, located on Dover Street, in Mayfair. Today it is a meeting place for men and women involved in the creative arts either professionally or as patrons.

Its present day members include Gwenyth Paltrow, Stella McCartney and Kim Catrall, among other famous celebrities. The principal patron is HRH Prince Philip. Last month, my friends had dinner next to Prince Harry at the club (I'm still kicking myself for missing that one!!). 

The club has reciprocal arrangements with a number of clubs of similar character and prestige around the world including the St. Botolph and Algonquin Clubs in my home town of Boston.

The basement features a cozy club where live music is played on the weekends:

I'm off to St. Tropez this weekend, so be sure to check back next week for all of my adventures in the South of France!

Pin It

London, England - The Olympic Torch Relay

Crowds lining Regent Street in London

It wouldn't be London without a red double decker bus!

Even the police are in good moods, hi-fiving spectators as they go

Many party floats preceded the torch

Olympic fever has officially begun here in London. The Olympic torch finally made its way into the city and I happened to watch it come down Regent Street in front of my office last evening. While I haven’t scored tickets to any of the events, my friends are throwing many parties to get in the spirit. Tonight I am going to an Opening Ceremony party at a friend’s flat, and tomorrow all of us Americans will get together for a BBQ. Where will you be watching the Olympics?? 

What did we all do before the smart phone?

A close up of the torch and London 2012 logo

Pin It

London, England - Liberty Furnishing Fabrics Have Launched!!

As many of you who follow my blog regularly know, I moved to London a little over a year ago to launch a brand new furnishing fabrics range for Liberty of London. After months and months of reviewing designs from our archive, perfecting color combinations, choosing base cloths and a thousand other tasks, I am happy to report that our fabrics finally launched last Thursday! 

They are available for purchase here.

We held a sit-down luncheon for all of the home magazine editors and relevant press, and the collection was very well received. I also had several pieces of furniture upholstered to showcase the fabrics. Here is a sneak peek from our photo shoot: 

Pin It

Lyndhurst, England - Day Two in the New Forest

Woke up early last Sunday morning at Lime Wood to find the sun out and decided to go for a 5 mile bike ride through the New Forest. There was so much green and it was beautiful to see the sun shining through the trees. There are paths all throughout the forest that go for miles and miles and they are perfect for jogging or biking. At one point I saw a massive falcon swoop by and its wing span was amazing! 

On the return ride I had a very Robert Frost "two roads diverged in a wood" moment (photo above) and had no idea which road was the right one back to the hotel. Moment of panic. I'm not sure if I took the one less travelled by, but luckily the one I did choose led me straight to breakfast!

After a lazy breakfast reading The Sunday Times, I headed to the Herb House Spa on the property and had a very relaxing facial in one of their treatments rooms. It is a beautiful spa and I highly recommend a visit here if you are staying at Lime Wood. 

At 2pm we checked out of the hotel and headed to the neighboring town of Brockenhurst for lunch at The Pig, which is the sister hotel to Lime Wood. It was a 6 minute ride and again, full of cattle, greenery, and thatched roof houses.

The dining room has a lovely glass roof and funky tiled floor with worn pine dining tables and chairs. It is a very popular restaurant for both lunch and dinner. All of the food is locally sourced and the menu changes constantly depending on what is in season. The kitchen is overseen by Chef James Golding who is ex Mark Hix –Ivy, Caprice, Sheekys and Soho House New York.

We decided to order a lot of small plates, or what they call "piggy bits," and dine tapas style, though they do have large Sunday roasts and big main meals of pork and fish as well. What we ate:

Meat loaf with caramelized onions

Prosciutto wrapped around carrots

Smoked salmon

These were just fried balls of animal fat - ya I stayed away from those!

Spicy fried onions

Tomato and basil salad

Chocolate mousse cake with cream and raspberries

Frozen toffee with hazelnuts - tasted like the most delicious salted caramel ice cream!

Dining room

Dining room tiled floor

The front of the hotel

Pin It